Clad all in white, the television actress acrobatically climbed the leg of a Musica statue dancer and then strutted across the grass as speakers blared a song from the upcoming ABC primetime drama “Nashville.”

Crew from the show, which premieres Oct. 10, arrived in Music City last month and filming here is under way.

The show centers around Rayna James (Connie Britton of “Friday Night Lights”), a country music legend whose career is fading, and Juliette Barnes (Panettiere), a young up-and-comer scheming to replace her.

Filming at the roundabout on Monday — which focused on several scenes with Panettiere — was quite the production with dancers and many extras cast as everything from film crew and security police to excited fans .

Watching the professional production thrilled many onlookers, including 11-year-old Lexi White, who is visiting the city with her mom, Melissa, in hopes of relocating from Portsmouth, N.H.

“It was kind of like, ‘Where is she?’ ” Lexi said, standing on her tiptoes as she re-enacted how she looked for Panettiere.

“I’ve never been this close to any type of celebrity. I’ve been to concerts, but I have never been from here to there,” Lexi said, indicating the 100 yards or so between herself and the filming.

The huge Taylor Swift fan can’t wait for “Nashville” to debut and has already asked her mom if she can stay up extra late to watch the show when it airs this fall.

Christmas music series for Special Olympics expands

Those now classics are part of the “A Very Special Christmas” album series, which began in 1987 to raise money for Special Olympics.

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In celebration of the 25th anniversary this year, organizers announced that for the first time two albums will be released simultaneously: “A Very Special Christmas 25th Anniversary” on Big Machine Records and “A Very Special Christmas: Bringing Peace on Earth” on Word Records.

“It’s 95 degrees, everybody’s baking, it’s the dead of summer, and I’m here to say, ‘Merry Christmas,’ ” said Timothy P. Shriver, chairman and CEO of Special Olympics, at a press conference held at Blackbird Studios in Nashville.

“I’m downstairs about to cut the coolest version of ‘Joy to the World’ with Train,” Brown said.

The series has generated more than $100 million in royalties and become the largest single source of funding for Special Olympics.

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The albums will be released Oct. 16.

— JENNIFER JUSTUS, THE TENNESSEAN

Jerry Lewis thanks 'Nutty' patrons

Comedic icon Jerry Lewis has personally thanked Nashville audiences following many performances of the world premiere of “The Nutty Professor” Musical at Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

On Saturday night, he stepped on the stage after actors took their bows and heaped praise on the cast, which he said “is going to take us to New York” as the production sets out on its impending path to Broadway.

Lewis, 86, who is directing the musical, expressed “how happy we are with how the show is doing. We still have some work to do, but we’ll be here until Aug. 19.”

He added: “We’re going to see a ‘Star is Born’ syndrome when we present Michael Andrew to New York.”

The musical will have 32 performances over four weeks in TPAC’s 1,075-seat James K. Polk Theater. Sales have been a little slower because it’s summer, school is back in session and the work is new, according to the show’s Nashville producer Mac Pirkle, but crowds have spiked with opening events, positive reviews and word-of-mouth.

After Macy Gray opened for Seal at TPAC on July 29, she popped into Polk while the production was in progress. “American Pickers” Mike Wolfe 8/3 attended on Friday, and Saturday drew a famous pair as foreshadowed on Twitter: On July 31, actor Richard Belzer (@MRbelzer) tweeted, “going with best buddy Paul Shaffer to see Nutty Professor Musical in Nashville directed by my “Dad” Jerry Lewis for my birthday 8/4 Excited!”

Tickets are available at www.tpac.org, and new specials rolled out Monday: code “nuttybogo” gets you two tickets for the price of one, and “nutty440” gets you four tickets for $40.